Great Britain stun India with early goals

A rousing first half display in front of a boisterous
home crowd saw Great Britain’s men pick up their first points of
the Visa International Invitational Tournament in a 4-2 victory
over India.

The result sets up a ‘winner takes all’ clash with Australia on
Saturday with both sides looking for a place in Sunday’s final at
the Riverbank Arena.

Rob Moore’s stunning reverse stick shot after four minutes set
the tempo for a pulsating first half that saw Simon Mantell benefit
from a defender’s misfortune and East Grinstead hero Ashley Jackson
net two deflections in as many minutes.  VR Raghunath pulled
one back with a clinical penalty corner flick but the half belonged
to Great Britain.

Sandeep Singh scored the only goal of the second half as India
showed more urgency early on.  Great Britain recovered their
composure to end the match stronger but failed to add to their
tally.

Afterwards, Great Britain Head Coach Jason Lee said,

“It was great to win in front of this crowd.  We wouldn’t
score those four goals again but our performances are improving.
 I think Australia, India, Germany and ourselves have found
the pitch a little heavy and so the pace of the match towards the
end is slowing.

“We were slightly fortuitous to get the four goals.  At one
stage we had one attempt at goal and two goals.”

Lee was referring Mantell’s goal, which began as a cross from
the baseline but which was unwittingly diverted into his own net by
the Indian defender.  With no ‘own goals’ in international
hockey, the effort was credited to the 28 year old Reading
forward.

The match began to rapturous support with both main stands
brimming as the mist set in on the Riverbank Arena.  Great
Britain began at a terrific tempo with Moore creating the space to
shoot on his reverse to fire GB into an early lead

Mantell’s goal followed seven minutes later and things looked
good as GB won a penalty corner but they failed to convert from the
top of the circle.

A quick Indian counter attack won the visitors a penalty corner
a minute later and Raghunath made no mistake as he flicked
accurately inside the post beyond the full length dive of Cannock
goalkeeper James Fair.

Great Britain’s third came from the deft touch of 2009 World
Young Player of the Year Ashley Jackson as he diverted a long pass
from Wimbledon’s Ben Hawes that was expertly dummied by Richard
Alexander on the edge of the circle.  Alexander was making his
50th appearance in a GB shirt.

And two minutes later Jackson doubled his tally, this time
deflecting home on the near post after great work from Jonty
Clarke, who beat two defenders before finding Jackson.

The second half lacked the intensity and free flowing style of
the first as India came at GB early on.  Their reward for
their adventurousness was a superb penalty corner goal rifled high
into the net by danger man Sandeep Singh.  And it could have
become tricky for Great Britain had Surbiton forward James Tindall
not produced an inspired clearance from in front of goal from
India’s next penalty corner.

As the clock ticked down Great Britain came back into the match,
pressing India without creating too many clear cut opportunities.
 A last minute Indian penalty corner was cleared, sealing the
4-2 win and setting up a showdown with the Kookaburras on
Saturday.

After the match captain Glenn Kirkham explained,

“We’ve talked a lot about our mental game and how we want to
play every minute whether we’re four up or four down.  India
came out at us in the second half and committed more to the game.
 They put us under pressure for a bit and I think we panicked
for a while but we recovered.”

Friday is a tournament rest day for all the teams with action
resuming on Saturday. Great Britain’s ‘Ashes’ clash with Australia
is scheduled for 17:00, following Germany’s match with India
(14:45).  Earlier in the day, world number two side Germany
qualified for Sunday’s final courtesy of a thrilling 3-2 victory
over world number one Australia.

Great Britain men’s Squad v India

Started

James Fair (Cannock) Goalkeeper

Iain Lewers (East Grinstead) Defender

Richard Smith (Loughborough Students) Defender

Ali Wilson (Beeston) Defender

Ben Hawes (Wimbledon) Defender/Midfielder

Ashley Jackson (East Grinstead) Midfielder

Glenn Kirkham (East Grinstead) Midfielder

James Tindall (Surbiton) Forward

Jonty Clarke (Reading) Forward

Simon Mantell (Reading) Forward

Rob Moore (Surbiton) Midfielder/Forward

Substitutes Used

Dan Fox (Hampstead and Westminster) Defender

Adam Dixon (Beeston) Defender/Midfielder

Richard Alexander (Surbiton) Midfielder/Forward

Nick Catlin (Reading) Midfielder/Forward

Mark Pearn (East Grinstead) Forward

Did Not Play

Iain Mackay (Reading) Midfielder

Harry Martin (Old Loughtonians) Midfielder

Visa International Invitational Hockey Tournament
Standings

1. Germany (6 pts) – qualified for final

2. Australia (3 pts) (goal difference +2)

3. Great Britain (3 pts) (goal difference 0)

4. India (0 pts)

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